Hanger clamp



Oct. 16, 1952 R. w. NEMIRE ETAL HANGER CLAMP Filed April 12. 1960 INVENTORS RICHARD W. NEMIRE CHARLES R. RECOB,SR. BY

ATTORNEYS Fatented Oct. 16, 1962 3,058,713 HANGER CL Richard W. Nemire, 1152 E. 3rd St, Ottawa, Ohio, and Charles R. Recob, S12, 1012 W. Market St., Lima, Ohio Filed Apr. 12, 1960, Ser. No. 21,648 2 Claims. (Cl. 248228) This invention relates to C clamps particularly clamps of the type employed in suspending conduit or pipe from overhead structures.

Heretofore, forged malleable castings of 0 form have been employed to suspend conduit pipe from overhead joists as in sprinkler pipe installations. These C clamps have normally comprised a bight with substantially symmetrical arms when viewed in side elevation. Current construction practices and the materials now employed frequently present situations where these prior clamps cannot be utilized, for example, bar joists are now used in a form comprising spaced base members in place of the usual flanges and are provided with intermediate webs made up of an open framework. The base memhers are frequently spaced such that sprinkler piping must be suspended above the lower base and running through the open webbing. Roofs are frequently constructed with shallow channels of metal laid directly on the joist so that the major faces of the channels are separated from the joist flanges by the depth of the channel sides engaging those flanges. Another roof or ceiling construction comprises a sheet material laid directly on the joist combined with a built up upper surface thereon. These types of construction require that piping and conduit be suspended by means other than conventional C clamps. For example, attempts have been made to make connection directly between suspension elements and the roof ceiling or joist flanges by means of penetrating fasteners applied by impact. Various complex clamping arrangements have been employed to couple suspension elements to the upper flanges of the joist. With the roofing laid directly on those flanges or spaced from those flanges by only a shallow side of a metal channel, insuflicient spacing is provided beneath the undersurface of the roofing and the joist flange to mount the C clamps currently available. Therefore, special arrangements must be made to support sprinkler systems in this type of construction.

In accordance with the above, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved clamp which is universally adaptable to modern construction. Another object is to improve the mounting for suspended pipe and conduit. A third object is to meet the loading requirements imposed in suspending pipe and conduit with a clamp which lends itself to engagement with close spaced elements. A further object is to facilitate the suspension of pipe and conduit from one of a group of superposed elements with a minimum disturbance of those elements.

In accordance with the above objects, one embodiment of this invention comprises a clamp of general 0 form for hanging pipe or conduit from bar joists. The clamp is provided with an upper arm of substantial extent in a generally horizontal plane and of a limited vertical depth. A bight couples the upper arm to the lower arm and is re-enforced at its junction with the upper arm over a substantial area of its undersurface by fairing. The lower arm, also integral with the bight, is constructed with a substantial depth in a plane of the C and is arranged for supporting a means clamping the C to a flange of a bar joist or the like and for supporting a coupling, such as a machine rod, upon which the pipe or conduit is suspended. Advantageously, this suspension from the lower arm is aflorded by a boss through which a pair of adjacent tapped holes pass for the reception of a threaded clamping stud and a threaded rod, both of which are located along the length of the arm and beyond the bight of the 0 whereby the loading imposed by the suspended element is aligned with the portion of the bar joist over which the clamp is fitted, thereby minimizing the turning moment imposed upon the clamp about the joist.

The objects and features of this invention will be more fully appreciated from the following detailed description when read with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. I is a plan view of the clamp of this invention as applied to a built-up roof mounted on a bar joist, the roof and joist being shown in section for purposes of illustration;

FIG. Ii is an end view of the clamp of FIG. I with portions of the clamping stud broken away to better reveal the details of construction;

FIG. III is a plan View of the clamp of FIG I; and

FIG. IV is a perspective view of the clamp and broken away portions of a bar joist and roof construction for which this clamp is particularly adapted.

As best seen in FIG. I the clamp of this invention is of 0 form and comprises a bight 11, an upper arm 12 and a lower arm 13. The arms 12 and 13 are of substantial length and extend beyond the bight to provide an open region 14 intermediate the inner faces of the arms into which is received the element to which the clamp is to be secured. Upper arm 12 is of only limited thickness while being of substantial width. That is, the upper arm has a major dimension transverse of its length and perpendicular to the plane of the clamp, its width, and a minor dimension transverse of its length and parallel to its plane, its thickness or depth, wherein the major di mension is several times that of the minor dimension. In one embodiment the upper arm is about eight times as wide as it is thick. The resulting relatively thin arm of the C can readily be fitted in between closely spaced elements and as illustrated in FIG. I, even forced between superposed elements such as the bar joist flange 15 and superposed roofing board 16, with only a minimum of distortion or disruption of the roofing board. This type of roof construction is frequently composed of Celotex board 16 with an overlayer 17 of poured gypsum and a built-up roof 18.

The lower arm 13 of the clamp is formed with a boss 19, best seen in FIG. IILupon which are supported the clamping means, stud 21, and the suspending means for the conduit or pipe supported by the combination, such as a machine rod 22. Advantageously, the clamping stud and machine rod are secured in the boss by threading in tapped holes 23 and 24,, respectively which are parallel to the length of the bight 11 and the plane of the C. Locked nuts 25 and 26 are provided to prevent loosening the stud and rod.

The length of the arms 12 and 13 is such that the boss is positioned beyond the bight of the C clamp and is, therefore, below the supporting flange 15 of bar joist 27. Bight 11 is formed with substantial width in order to sustain the loading imposed on the arms 12 and 13 tending to spread them apart. Arm 12 is joined to the bight 11 in a manner to present a continuous, smooth and substantially flat upper surface to avoid interfering with the elements of the structure beyond the arm such as the sheet material 16 by extending the wide portion of the arm across a substantial portion of the width of the bight and by fairing the arm into the bight as at 28.

The bar joist 27 shown in FIG. I comprises a pair of opposed L-shaped members 31 having flattened flanges 15 and coupled by a built-up web made up of circular rods 32. In such a construction the open portion 14 of the clamp need be arranged to alter only sufiicient clearance for the thickness of the flange 1'5. However, this clamp is intended for universal utilization and, therefore,

' shown in FIG. IV. In the construction of FIG. IV, the

joist is made up of top and bottom base members running longitudinally thereof and having flanges 33 bent back to a plane generallyparalleling the plane of the joist web made up of the rod elements 34. It will be noted that the arms 12 and 13 of the clamp are of sufficient length to provide an open section 14 intermediate the web 11 and the hanger rod 22 for the reception of the flange 33 such that the clamp lends itself to a mounting on the bar joist of the type shown in FIG. I or of the type shownin FIG. IV. Further, if desired, the bight 11 can be lengthened to provide a greater height in the open section '14 without losing the advantages of the construction depicted.

FIG. IV illustrates one utilization of the clamp wherein hanger rod '22 extending from boss 19 supports at its lower end a ring 35 through which piping or conduit 36 extends. The ring 35 can be conveniently coupled to the rod 22 by a tapped hole in the integral boss 37 for receiving a threaded end ofrthe rod.

structural member and said second member with a minimum of interference, a boss mounted on said other arm beyond the body of said bight, said boss having a pair of cylindrical cavities aligned along the length of said other arm and having their longitudinal axes parallel and extending to intersect said .onefarm substantially normal to the plane defined by its length and its major dimension transverse of its length, and means for supporting a "From the above it is apparent that the novel form of G clamp of this invention lends itself to mounting on closely spaced or superposed "elements with a minimum of disruption of the elements where they are in contact, and

' where the elements are spaced slightly, the clamp clears the second element without'any detrimental effects on the clamping action obtained on the first element from which the clamp is to be suspended. The construction illustrated can be altered in its proportions without loss of the advantages ofiered by the shallow construction of leg 12 and, similarly, the means of securing the clamp to its supporting element and for suspending other elements from the clamp can be modified. Therefore, it is to be recognized that modifications of the clamp can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention and that this disclosure is to be read as illustrative of the invention andnot in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A Q clamp adapted for sustaining loads from a structural member having a substantially flat face, said structural member having a second member positioned closelyadjacent said'face, comprising a bight, a pair of arms of substantially equal lengths, one. at each side of said bight, one of'said arms having the major dimension transverse of its lengthperpendicular to the plane 'of the C, the other of said arms having the major dimension transverse of its length parallel to 'theplane of the'G to adapt it for loading parallel to the length of the bight,

said one arm having a smooth, substantially fiat face most remote said other arm, said face defining the outermost limit of said clamp in the dimension normal to the plane of the C and. most remote from said other arm, whereby said one armcan be moved between said face of said clamping pin and a hanger rodin said cavities.

2. A C clamp adapted for sustaining loads from a structural member having a substantially flat face, said structural member having a second member positioned closely adjacent said face, comprising a bight, a pair of arms of substantially equal length, one at each side of said bight, one of said arms having the major dimension transverse of its length perpendicular to the plane of the C and a minor dimension substantially less than said .major dimension parallel to the plane of the C, said one arm extending in said major and minor transverse dimensions across of a portion of the end of said bight, the other of said armshaving a major dimension transverse of its length parallel to the plane of the C, said one arm having a smooth, substantially flat face most remote from said other arm, said 'face defining the outermost limit of said clamp in the dimension normal to the plane of said 0 and most remote from said other arm, whereby said one arm can be moved between said face of said structural member andsaid second member with a minimumtof interference, a boss on said other arm having a pair of apertures with axes parallel to the plane of said O and the length of said bight, the extension of said axes intersecting said one armsubstantially normal to the plane defined by its length and its major dimension transverse of its length, each of said apertures being spaced outwardly along said other arm from the juncture of said arm and said bight, the extensions of the axes of said apertures extending across the open face of said bight and intersecting said one arm. at points spaced along the arm from the juncture ofsaid arm withsaid' bight, a clamping pin fitted into the outermost one of said apertures from said bight and means to adjustably advance said clamping pin toward said one arm and secure said clamping pin in said aperture, said second aperture being tapped forreception of a loading element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,926,636 Subick Sept. 12, 1933 2,375,513 Bach 'May 8, 1945 2,593,222 Tracy Apr. '15, 1952 2,843,301 Worthen July 15, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 373 Great Britain 'Jan. 5, 1906 

